From Folding@Home:

We're happy to roll out the beta nVidia client, it's a nice beta, and so here we go...

STEP 1!!!!!
First and before you do anything else, LOOK OVER THE FAQ.. Lots of important things in there that you'll need to know if you do anything beyond run the installer and run it.

Drivers:
You MUST use the 174.55 version of the drivers for now. You do not need the other files, just the drivers.

Known Bugs:
It's a beta, and yes we meant that, not like Google but like software engineers - expect glitches and updates. The main thing is that the viewer will not work, as we're in the middle of changing how the live coordinates get to the viewer. Other then that, visit our nVidia beta Forum to see what's happening.


Download:
6.12 beta 6

If you know nothing about Distributed Computing and what Folding @ Home does in particular, visit their site.

For all those who have a 8* series nVidia card or higher, come help OCAU regain the top spot from the yanks and help to cure diseases while your at it!

Required information when installing:

User: QGL
Team: 24

You have the option to create your own user account by simply entering a different user name, but do check to see if someone has not already taken such name here. Though being a subteam allows the points to accumulate much more quickly.

Some results of mine from this new client:

Tested on a work PC (E2160 1.8ghz, 8800GT, Vista 32bit):

Min. Time / Frame : 30s - 2822.40 ppd
Avg. Time / Frame : 30s - 2822.40 ppd
Cur. Time / Frame : 32s - 2646.00 ppd
R3F. Time / Frame : 31s - 2731.35 ppd
Eff. Time / Frame : 31s - 2731.35 ppd

Home PC (Q600 2.4ghz, 8800GTX, XP 32bit):

Min. Time / Frame : 19s - 4456.42 ppd
Avg. Time / Frame : 19s - 4456.42 ppd
Cur. Time / Frame : 19s - 4456.42 ppd
R3F. Time / Frame : 19s - 4456.42 ppd
Eff. Time / Frame : 20s - 4233.60 ppd

As you can see, if around 15 people can donate their spare GPU cycles for the team it can become the top producer.

Figures taken from FAHMON benchmarks, a program that allows you to monitor your clients on any pc of the network.

Forgot to mention, if you encounter any troubles please visit the Distributed Computing forum on OCAU.

Does it still have a user scoreboard thing? Maybe we could make an AusGamers group and I could whip up a prize for whoever has the most computations by the end of the month or something. Anyone interested?

EOC stats is what the majority are using to keep a track of their progress.

You could create a whole new team, it would definitely be easier to track competition wise, but we (OCAU) need all the help we can get to topple the Horde. This is a list of all teams folding currently, the first two pages has about 3 Aus teams in total, OCAU, Austech.info and Tasmanian Dept of Education.

If you do end up having competition prizes, I'd recommend doing it in a similar fashion that OCAU. All the people who register for the comp go into a raffle, with the amount of tickets they earn being dependent on the amount they produce until a certain cap limit. Because basically you'll have people who'll pool their resources just to earn the prize, and it encourages the smaller producers to stay.

last edited by step at 10:34:51 19/Jun/08

yea but cos it's ausgamers this would have to mean "the amount of opportunities to provide a witty response of 25 words or less to the question "what is folding?" is dependent on the amount they produe until a certain cap limit"

The reason we have those questions is because doing it any other way requires a lottery license. Running a raffle thing would not be possible because in order to do it in accordance with the varying state laws, we'd have to spend a billion f***ing hours running around and paying for licenses, which would quickly make it not worth the effort.

While there's almost no possibility that we would ever get busted by the feds for not running in accordance with the laws, we're not prepared to take that risk.

So while I appreciate that you were probably just being a smart-ass assuming that we're doing it because we're a bunch of f***heads, you should know there's a real, legitimate reason behind why we have those 25 words or less things - we need to do it that way so we can keep lawyers off our asses.

I'd do it, after all, it is contributing to cancer research, but it also contributes to carbon emissions and my power-bill, so I'll pass.

well, I've set my work laptop to run the regular client for the QGL user on team 24.

I'll set up my home video card tonight.

well, I've set my work laptop to run the regular client for the QGL user on team 24.

I'll set up my home video card tonight.

Awesome.

The other bonus of this new GPU client is that the units are small, they generally finish in like like 30 minutes - 1 hour, unlike the SMP client which takes 10+ hours (quads, dual cores is double) if you're lucky. So even if you only do it for a certain amount of time, you'll still be contributing to the cause.

I tried to set this up this morning and blue screened on me after installing those drivers :(

wow - I've been waiting for this.

cheers Step

Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3, due on US shores on November 17, sucks up 380 watts of power, a far cry from the PS2 which sips a mere 45 watts. That means the PS3 uses more than twice the 160 watts consumed by the Xbox 360. The PS3's 380 watts will cost you around $40 a year to run if you play it two hours a day.

link

leaving folding at home on for hours apon hours... costing me money... i think not

leaving folding at home on for hours apon hours... costing me money... i think not

Yep, that is one of my thoughts.

I wasn't going to post anything about the environmental impact, since most people who run these distributed clients probably don't care much about the environment in the first place (keeping a PC on full load instead of idle to build up your number crunching 'stats' is a good indicator of most of their priorities), and hence I'd get flamed for bringing up the topic .. but I don't care anymore.

Check out their forum FAQ:

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1164

I’m worried about the environment, won’t running this program increase greenhouse gas emissions?/ Won’t running my computer at full or near full usage all the time make my bill skyrocket?

F@H needs only to be run when your computer is running. The average system uses maybe 70W at idle, and 120W fully loaded (i.e. when CPU folding - either uniprocessor or SMP). An extra 50W will not have a significant impact on either the environment or your electricity bill.

I emphasised the last part due to the fact that they dismiss the environmental impact based on 50W in isolation! If you have a whole heap of people each sucking up 50W, it quickly adds up.

I used to be heavily into Folding and SETI @ home and ended up stopping due to:

1. Extra heat generated from full-load (I needed to open windows/doors to cycle the hot air)

2. Extra power consumption (environmental and wallet impact)

3. Extra strain on the remaining PC components due to increased heat inside a *typical* case. Might not matter for some components, but data-critical stuff like hard-drives can benefit from every degree that you can cool them down by.

And all this talk of "spare cpu cycles" is rubbish. Maybe back in the day when the power management features weren't so advanced, idle and load weren't that different in terms of power consumption. But these days, power management is built into a huge number of devices.

I'm no hippy (I love technology) and I'm not against Folding@Home in principle, I think it's a very noble idea. I'm sure there are also some people who are genuinely interested in the actual science produced and not their stats, but the way people embrace and try to get it running on as many machines as they can as if there's "nothing to lose", I think that's a bit short-sighted.

I'm actually looking forward to the day when residential electricity is more expensive, so that people can consume more responsibly. I'm not perfect myself (far from it), but I try to make sure I cut down on energy/resource/= consumption when I can. Little things like changing to better light-bulbs, turning s*** off, and not running several computers has helped cut my power consumption by more than half to 2/3.

*shrug*

last edited by parabol at 17:42:15 19/Jun/08

I'm actually looking forward to the day when residential electricity is more expensive, so that people can consume more responsibly. I'm not perfect myself (far from it), but I try to make sure I cut down on energy/resource/= consumption when I can. Little things like changing to better light-bulbs, turning s*** off, and not running several computers has helped cut my power consumption by more than half to 2/3.

^^ hey hey parabol, thats pushing it buddy... i leave my computer on overnight, most nights getting linux torrents. imagine if price of electricity was to go up along with the already crazy prices of petrol, food, alcohol and just everyday living costs.

i leave my computer on overnight, most nights getting linux torrents.

So do I. I can get myself an embedded NAS running rTorrent to do that at a fraction of the power consumption. Except I don't because the PC is so convenient and I can afford the electricity, hence my lack of motivation for seeking the more power friendly solution.

Stuff like changing light-bulbs, turning s*** off, not running full-load programs is very easy in comparison (that's why I do them), but if electricity became more expensive then it'd give me a kick up the arse to take stuff more seriously.

Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3, due on US shores on November 17, sucks up 380 watts of power, a far cry from the PS2 which sips a mere 45 watts. That means the PS3 uses more than twice the 160 watts consumed by the Xbox 360. The PS3's 380 watts will cost you around $40 a year to run if you play it two hours a day.

no it doesn't

and its more like 3c an hour, not exactly going to break the bank.

and its more like 3c an hour, not exactly going to break the bank.

give me 3c/hr to run it then.. i doubt its that little tho...

According to a study by Australian consumer group Choice, video game consoles such as Sony Playstation 3 consumes five times more energy than a medium sized refrigerator.

They found out that a medium sized refrigerator of about 12 cu. ft. volume (60 inches in height) will cost $50 a year while Sony Playstation 3 will cost $250 a year even if it is not in use and only turned on. Microsoft XBox came second behind Playstation 3.

another site saying its not as little as 3c/hr

wow... according to the australia consumer group choice it costs $250 a yr even if its not in use and just turned on... thats crazy, little more than 3c a yr hey... imagine what it would do if it was using up alot of its resources with folding home, would be alot more expensive than $250

not exactly going to break the bank.

Alright so let's say 170W, 24/7/365, @ ~15c/kWh: roughly $220/year.

Say it's only running at full-load half the day, still over $100/year.

Ignoring other aspects (environment, extra heat), do you feel that the $100 has contributed well towards science? Well what if you instead gave that $100 directly to the researchers? Even if they received $10 annually from each person from the 250,000 "active CPUs" listed, they would have quite a lot of money to fund extra staff, equipment.

I'm not saying that's better or worse, just food for thought.

another site saying its not as little as 3c/hr

wow... according to the australia consumer group choice it costs $250 a yr even if its not in use and just turned on... thats crazy, little more than 3c a yr hey... imagine what it would do if it was using up alot of its resources with folding home, would be alot more expensive than $250

you're pretty s*** at this comprehension thing aren't you? read it again.

$5.00 a week if its on playing games the entire time. now if i tell you there are 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week try working it out yourself.

if you work in IT and do work @ home you can claim the s*** out of your power bill.


get a better accountant ya hippie :P

1. Extra heat generated from full-load (I needed to open windows/doors to cycle the hot air)

If you need to open anything when your PC is turned on, you're going to have bigger problems soon enough.

2. Extra power consumption (environmental and wallet impact)

Again it's up to the person, you're not forced to run the program 24/7, or at all. Every bit helps though.

Do you drive a hybrid / electric car? If not, what are you waiting for. Think about what your car is doing to the planet, OMG!!!

3. Extra strain on the remaining PC components due to increased heat inside a *typical* case. Might not matter for some components, but data-critical stuff like hard-drives can benefit from every degree that you can cool them down by.

Again, in a properly ventilated case the extra heat produced by the video card is negligible. The heat from the video card should not be going anywhere remotely near your hard drives, it's exhausted elsewhere.

Also if you truly want to get technical, there is a point where cooling your hard drives too much will harm them more so. Though that's getting into cooling solutions that the majority will never go near.

I just realised that 64bit isn't supported.

I only just installed vista 64bit :(

Oh well.

I just realised that 64bit isn't supported.

It does sort of say that in the FAQ, but people have gotten it to work over at the OCAU forum by following such steps.

What part is holding you up?

There is supposedly a workaround here at the folding forums.

This is also the method that users have been doing to boost their production too, but I couldn't get it to work so I reverted back to the 174 drivers.

last edited by step at 20:31:25 19/Jun/08

If you need to open anything when your PC is turned on, you're going to have bigger problems soon enough.

No, not really.

Again, in a properly ventilated case the extra heat produced

Did you somehow miss the part where I said *typical* case? I even put asterisks around the 'typical' just in case people like you were about skim over it, yet you still missed it.

Not everyone has an Antec 900 or perfectly wind-tunnelled case. In fact I'd say the majority of the cases out there are poorly ventilated or pressed up right against a wall in an area with poor air circulation. You'll have heat pockets everywhere.

Do you drive a hybrid / electric car? If not, what are you waiting for. Think about what your car is doing to the planet, OMG!!!

I catch public transport 90% of the time, instead of driving. Point dismissed.

Also if you truly want to get technical, there is a point where cooling your hard drives too much will harm them more so.

...

In fact I'd say the majority of the cases out there are poorly ventilated

How incredibly wrong you are there, but since you think it, it must be true.

I catch public transport 90% of the time, instead of driving. Point dismissed.

Considering how anal you are coming across as in this thread, you're wasting 10%.

And again, it's up to the user to decide how long they want to run the client, if at all. Many have already stated that they don't wish to participate and that's fine, but you seem really keen to push the issue further.

This isn't going to turn your house in a sauna, destroy your computer and then cost a kidney to pay the power bill.

I had 3 boxens folding previously on the SMP client and the increase to the power bill was a whopping $30 per quarter, but I was one that already had the PC's running 24/7 beforehand anyways. I've gotten rid of the two other pcs due to the fact that they were no longer needed and the added bonus that I can produce the roughly the same output with just one video card.

How incredibly wrong you are there

I brought up the fact that most cases are probably not wind-tunnelled very well. You merely say that I'm wrong, yet you don't actually discuss the point I made or try to prove me wrong.

Have a look at the cases on the CA website for example:

http://computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qrySubCat=BOX

Here are a few of the most popular ones ...

http://computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=4551
http://computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=8467
http://computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=8097

... you'll notice many have Front Fan as 'Optional', meaning very little wind-tunnel effect going on, which will usually result in heat pockets around the hard-drives and some other devices. A couple of the other cases are pretty good and will ventilate well, but there aren't many of them. Hell many people just buy cases based on either cheap price, good looks or brand .. and if there's a fan or two they are happy (even if it ends up not ventilating well at all).

Considering how anal you are coming across as in this thread, you're wasting 10%.

This isn't going to turn your house in a sauna, destroy your computer and then cost a kidney to pay the power bill.

...

Yet more useless, sensationalist comments from you to add to the tally. You're not very good to hold a conversation with, so I think I'll leave it there since I already got my thoughts across one page ago.